Chapter 23

They played the game for about an hour and I was not allowed to leave the whole time! Zai used the console so he could use a controller. Valin rambled to me about the strategic differences between Duos and Trios and his character's specific abilities as if I could possibly retain all that information. Valin, I was a C student and I also don't care, both those factors were working against him. During the matches, I heard Zai swear more than I thought was possible.

The current match ended and Zai left the party.

"What are you doing?!" Valin yelled, then Rai walked got up, and headed upstairs yawning, "Jey!!?"

"Snowe took the day off tomorrow so she could spend tonight with me. I'm going to take advantage of that." Zai explained. Then he tapped my thigh signaling me to stand up. I never admitted to such a thing! I didn't even realize he was listening when I lied to Richard earlier.

"Fine, whatever... go," Valin grumbled.

"I suggest you keep your headset on," Zai added. What does he mean by that?! Valin didn't ask any questions, he just put his headset on, closed his laptop, and headed up to his room. "Now... it's time for your lesson."

"Have mercy." He chuckled,

"Mercy? Oh, Snowe, you're always making up such silly words." He's a tyrant!

I managed to walk downstairs by myself the next morning, I felt a bit proud, maybe I had gotten stronger... or maybe mercy wasn't a foreign concept to Zai after all. Valin was sitting on the living room couch alone, staring intensely at the book in front of him... he was doing sudoku on paper.

"Good morning." I greeted and Valin jumped from his seat and immediately got in a defensive position as if I was going to hit him. "Are you okay?"

"... Who are you?" He asked. There's no way he doesn't recognize me, right?!

"It's me remember... Snowe." I answered.

"I know that!" ... then why did he just ask me who I was?! "Wha... wha... what do you want?!" He questioned,

"Just saying Hi, relax," I replied then I made my way into the kitchen. "I'm about to make breakfast for everyone... I'll try not to bother you." He peeked out at me from behind his arms then flopped back on the couch, groaning loudly. I haven't gotten a chance to get to know him, right now he seems like a weirdo. I decided to make apple fritters so I tried to make conversation as I peeled the apples. "So... I was thinking... we should be friends."

"US?!" Valin asked jolting upwards and looking at me.

"Yeah, why not? Zai probably won't care if we just chat sometimes, but if you make a move on me he might kill you... I'm not exaggerating either. He. Will. Kill. You." Valin rolled his eyes and said,

"I have common sense. I understood you the first time!" He then glared at the wall before returning his gaze to me and said, "Fine..." This should be fine right? Valin seems harmless.

"What kind of stuff are you into?" I asked while moving on from peeling to chopping,

"I really like... Math!" I choked a little after his revelation.

"M-Math?" I asked, to be sure I heard him correctly,

"Yes! It is important in our constantly evolving world, math can even explain why plants grow the way they do. Have you heard of the Fibonacci Sequence?! The sequence starts with a zero, followed by a one, then by another one, then a two, and by a series of steadily increasing numbers. The sequence follows the rule that each number is equal to the sum of the preceding two numbers. There are trees in existence today, following this pattern, and even our own bodies follow it. Even 3D world models follow this sequence when they want to create a seamlessly realistic environment. All Art is numbers, All games are numbers. Because of mathematics, we were able to expand as a civilization, and as a people. Even the ability to predict the weather has advanced exponentially, thanks to Math! Weather forecasts rely on computers to solve the very complex equations that simulate the atmosphere's behaviors. Math is wonderful!" He was speaking so quickly that he was out of breath when he finished... that boy loves some math.

"I see..." Having a conversation with him will be harder than I thought.

"Snowe... what did you and Cera fight about?" I paused in my preparations... no one else had even asked. They just immediately took my side.

"Are you mad... that he got kicked out because of me?" I asked while placing the apples to the side and mixing the other ingredients in a bowl.

"Not at all, he hated math," Valin muttered. I better keep my opinions on math to myself then... "I'm just curious... Cera doesn't fight much... he's a weak, pathetic loser. He was chosen by water but never lived up to that title. So it would be dumb of him to try to fight you because that meant picking a fight with Zai."

"He... just wanted me to leave... He tried to persuade me and I said no... things got out of hand." My answer seemed to make sense to him since he folded his arms and nodded.

"Makes sense, he is obsessed with Zai. Has had a one-sided crush on him for years." His comment made me laugh for some reason.

"I'm surprised you noticed," I remarked

"What?! I'm not blind! Now that I think about it, Zai flipped on his pain switch too... he's probably not okay." That's right... Zai said if they go against their vows they feel intense agony and could die, so feeling pain for Cera would be a double whammy since he gave that away. I saw Zai coming downstairs and heading my way at that moment.

"What's up?" He asked, after taking his place at my side. Seeing him made it hard to think about anything else.

"Me and Snowe are friends now," Valin explained, nonchalantly.

"Oh?... Just know that if you touch her, I'll make sure your last words are you begging me to kill you." Zai stated coldly, and Valin sighed saying,

"Yeah, yeah, I've already been properly threatened. I'm not crazy." His tone sounded so relaxed that it's hard to believe he's actually intimidated. Zai assisted me, with my baking and RJ joined us around the time that all of the food was done. We all sat and ate at the table, it was lively, this is my family now. I exchanged numbers with RJ and Valin. Not even a minute later Valin spammed me with memes about math... I had no idea those existed?! Zai spoke suddenly saying,

"Let's go to the backyard." He pointed to the door and I followed him out. "I think you're ready for lesson 2." He added. Remembering lesson one makes me blush, so I tried not to think about it. "Spar with me, I need to see your skill level." He explained. We're going to fight... I'm worried. I then watched as Zai began tying one of his hands behind his back. "Can you make sure this is tight?" I rushed over at his request. The rope was golden and glistened in the sun.

"Will this really hold you?" I asked,

"It's made from a special material... that can stop me from using my full strength. It can't be broken." After his explanation, I smiled and said,

"Are you doing this so you can go easy on me?" I asked.

"No. If I can use both my arms I'm going to get distracted and have my way with you." My heart sent shivers through my body. And all my thoughts became naughty, "Are you ready?" Oh yeah training, FOCUS SNOWE!

"Yes!" I shouted, then I moved away from him and bowed respectfully, before taking a fighting stance.

"You're too tense, relax ." That's easy for him to say, "Attack me." He shouted and I lunged forward, throwing a punch, hoping to catch him off guard and he stepped aside, easily avoiding it and tripping me. When my face hit the ground he laughed and said, "Again!" I spit a chunk of dirt out my mouth and wiped my face, then stood up and got back into position. "Your stance is too wide." He commented, I tried to adjust it before striking at him again, but that hit didn't connect either, I used my other hand and even then he moved out of the way effortlessly, moving so lightly on his feet as if he was gliding on the air. "You keep aiming at my face... You have to aim for a blind spot, silly. I can see you." His criticism struck me hard. He's right though. After thinking for a moment I readjusted my strategy, aiming for his face, then immediately switching to low kicks. Zai, nimble as always hopped over my leg, then as I was turning around and throwing another punch he grabbed my wrist and pulled me close by raising my arm overhead. "It's no good... You need a lot of practice...hmm and I should tie up both my hands next time." His eyes then went to my lips and we kissed, and passionately made love in the backyard. Zai actually managed to control himself and stopped after a little over an hour, he even helped me get back dressed. "Alright... so we have a lot of work ahead of us but... you're not hopeless."

"Thank you, teacher," I replied with a hint of sarcasm, was I really that terrible? I think that's the best I've ever done in a fight.

"I like that... from now on after every lesson I need you to say, Thank you, teacher." All of them?!